Job overview

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us. 

Job Title: Smoke free lead

Contract Type: Fixed term

Fixed Term Contract End Date:  10/2027

Purpose for Fixed Term:  Short term funding  - 12 Month

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team to lead and influence a pioneering tobacco dependency and smoke free programme across University Hospital Southampton (UHS) and Hampshire County Council. Working collaboratively with healthcare professionals, public health colleagues, community partners and system-wide stakeholders, you will play a key role in reducing smoking prevalence, improving health outcomes and creating a healthier environment for patients, staff and local communities.

We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated Smoke Free Lead to drive forward our smoke free ambitions and lead the implementation of a smoke free site at UHS. This is a unique joint role, providing the opportunity to work across acute healthcare and public health settings to deliver meaningful change and tackle one of the leading causes of preventable ill health and health inequalities.

About the Role

As Smoke Free Lead, you will oversee the delivery of the UHS Smoke Free Programme, ensuring a supportive and compassionate approach that helps patients, visitors and staff to access evidence-based smoking cessation support.

Working closely with clinical teams, managers and partners across Hampshire, you will lead initiatives that embed tobacco dependency treatment into routine care, increase referrals to community smoking cessation services, and support long-term behaviour change.

The post sits within the medical directorate, reporting to the Clinical Programme lead.

Working for our organisation

As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to. UHS is rated ‘Good’ by the CQC and in the latest national NHS Staff Survey, we were in the top 10 acute trusts for staff engagement and for staff recommending the hospital as a place to work or receive care. 

 We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service. UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts, are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme.

 Southampton is an attractive place to live and work situated on the south coast, with an international airport and direct trains to London. The New Forest National Park and beaches of the Jurassic coast are also right on our doorstep. The city offers living costs 30% lower than London and 17 schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.

 We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalising your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.

Key responsibilities will include:

Leading the project to deliver and maintain a fully smoke free site at UHS.
Working alongside clinical teams providing smoking cessation support to patients and staff, ensuring interventions are supportive, accessible and effective.
Identifying challenges and barriers to implementation and working collaboratively with staff to develop practical solutions.
Developing strong partnerships with services across UHS, Hampshire County Council and wider healthcare organisations.
Representing the programme at Integrated Care Board (ICB) meetings and tobacco dependency networks, sharing learning, innovation and best practice across the system.
Delivering training and education programmes for staff, including Very Brief Advice (VBA), smoking status recording and referral pathways for onward treatment and support.
Increasing referrals from acute services into community-based smoking cessation services across Hampshire.
Planning and delivering engagement activities, awareness campaigns and promotional events, including initiatives such as "Bin the Butt" days and Stoptober campaigns.
Working alongside health inequalities, prevention and population health programmes to reduce smoking-related inequalities and improve outcomes for underserved communities.
Monitoring programme performance, analysing data and producing reports to demonstrate impact and identify opportunities for improvement.
Developing business cases and funding proposals to secure investment and support the sustainability and growth of tobacco dependency services.
Acting as a champion for tobacco dependency treatment and smoke free environments across the organisation and wider system.

We are looking for an individual who is passionate about prevention, public health and reducing health inequalities. You will be an effective communicator who can build relationships, influence stakeholders and motivate others to embrace change.

You will be able to demonstrate:
Willingness to be on site, actively talking to staff, patients and visitors about smoke free
Experience of leading projects, programmes or service improvement initiatives.
Knowledge of smoking cessation, tobacco dependency treatment, public health or health promotion programmes.
Strong stakeholder engagement and partnership working skills.
Experience of developing and delivering training or educational programmes.
Excellent communication, presentation and influencing abilities.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience of using data to drive improvement.
Experience of developing business cases, funding bids or investment proposals.
The ability to work independently while managing multiple priorities across different organisations.